BE THANKFUL I DON’T TAKE IT ALL
Notebooks out plagiarists, as Mark E.Smith has been known to deludedly say. I, as usual, have an ambivalent view on plagiarism. Yes it is lazy, artistically corrupt and just plain dishonest. That said it stops a […]

THE STONE ROSES – “Fool’s Gold”
Now here’s a classic, eh readers? “Fool’s Gold” is a seamless genre-smashing marriage of funk, rock and dance, a classic which will live forever as a reminder of when the[…]

James Brown – Moby-esque cross-media overexposure
Ahhhhhh! (Or should that be “oooowww!”) The joys of summer, the smack of leather on willow, the strawberries, the cream, Wimbledon. But what?s that I hear? It seems the boys in th[…]

JB – The Funky Drummer
Let?s not forget James Brown?s unique contribution to the proliferation of crummy dance music. How many bands, eighties and nineties, pilfered one of The “Please Please Please” Man?s frugging riffs to beef up[…]

JB – You’ve overstayed your welcome
Nowadays, it is impossible to think of “young” James Brown (a poised, suave young buck, supposedly) without being reminded of “old” James Brown (a wizened, fogeyish old criminal,[…]

JB – Nicknames
In addition to “The Godfather of Soul”, James Brown has a number of other, less well-known nicknames. These names, picked up during his childhood and remaining with him throughout his overlong career, include: Music […]

JB – Godfathers
And what?s this business about The Godfather of Soul? Let?s see, godfathers in the traditional sense of the word are male friends or relatives of the parents, who are generally pretty up for being a godfather at the start &#821[…]

James Brown – Sexual Gymnast
“Ooooooowwww!”
This would seem to me to be a perfectly understandable reaction to James Brown?s music. Only instead of wetting my pants at what is meant to be orgasm-inducing “ooowwww!”s, &#[…]

Get on the scene, like a sewing machine
I was ill.
I am ill no more.
From my sickbed, I have just heard three James Brown songs back-to-back on the radio.
Mr Brown – your day of reckoning has come.[…]

SICK NOTES
Where have I been? In bed. What have I been? Ill. “Am I still ill?” Morrissey asked once in a thinly-disguised bid to break his Rough Trade contract and sign to Def Jam. The answer was in that sense no, though anyone hearing hi[…]